1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical image system and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
A mammography examination and an ultrasound examination have mainly been performed as a breast cancer examination in recent years. These two examinations can play complementary roles where one can expect to detect a lesion with higher accuracy by combining the two examinations to make a diagnosis.
Generally, in a combined examination, a radiology technician or the like first performs the mammography examination to obtain objective position information on an abnormal shadow candidate within a breast X-ray image that is obtained by radiography. A medical technologist or the like then performs the ultrasound examination while focusing on a location corresponding to an area of the abnormal shadow candidate within the breast X-ray image of abreast to generate an ultrasonic image of a mammary gland (hereinafter abbreviated as an ultrasonic image). Once both examinations are finished, a doctor interprets the breast X-ray image and the ultrasonic image to make a final diagnosis.
An image called a body mark is recorded in the ultrasound examination, the body mark being generated by superposing a probe mark which indicates a position (an examined position) scanned by an ultrasonic probe (probe) on the ultrasonic image obtained by the examination. It is however not easy for the doctor to perform the diagnosis by associating the abnormal shadow candidate in the breast X-ray image with the ultrasonic image while checking the body mark.
Now, for example, what is disclosed in JP 2013-514117 W is the generation of association with a selected object in a selected image when a new image is generated. According to JP, 2013-514117 W, an object (abnormal shadow candidate) in a medical image obtained in one examination can be associated with a medical image obtained in another examination.
However, some combinations of images may be associated with each other while other combinations of images are preferred not to be associated with each other. When the dates of examinations are too far apart from each other, for example, the images are preferably not associated with each other since the clinical condition has possibly undergone a change overtime between the images. The technology disclosed in JP 2013-514117 W however could not confirm such change, whereby the images that are preferably not associated with each other are associated with each other.
Moreover, it is not clear in the technology disclosed in JP 2013-514117 W whether an image is left unassociated or is determined by a technician to not have an image with which the image is associated, when the image is not associated. As a result, the doctor who makes the final diagnosis needs to take time to confirm this, causing a decrease in a diagnostic efficiency. This can also lead to re-examination, which undesirably increases a burden on both a patient and a hospital.